Pierce County, WA Among Defendants in Vet’s Class Action Over Jail’s Screening for Mental Illnesses

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A proposed class action lawsuit has been filed on behalf of individuals with mental illnesses who are incarcerated in the Pierce County Jail in Washington. The 38-page lawsuit, filed by two plaintiffs, names the below as defendants: 

• Pierce County, Washington
• Bruce Dammeier, in his official capacity as Pierce County Executive
• Pierce County Sheriff’s Department
• Paul A. Pastor, in his official capacity as Pierce County Sheriff
• Patti Jackson-Kidder, in her official capacity as Pierce County Chief of Corrections
• Janet Rhoton, in her official capacity as County Jail Mental Health Manager
• Yet-unidentified officers, agents, employees, and successors of the above.

Noting that the above defendants were sued over similar claims more than 20 years ago, the lawsuit charges that Pierce County and its agents continue to violate Constitutional law, correctional facility regulations and “basic standards of human decency” by failing to adequately screen for mental illness during the booking process or during incarceration. The plaintiffs assert the defendants ignore “clear signs of mental illness and requests for care” while routinely failing to document “serious mental health symptoms, psychiatric medications, and treatment history.”

According to the lawsuit, the defendants, instead of providing proper mental illness treatment, punish proposed class members for non-violent behaviors by using “eyebolt restraints” to shackle individuals’ arms and legs to the floor; utilize pepper spray; and, the complaint reads, “leave people in the throes of mental health crises in restraint chairs for hours on end.” The plaintiffs go so far as to allege the defendants routinely “warehouse” proposed class members in solitary confinement for 21 to 24 hours at a time.

The plaintiffs allege the defendants have violated the Eighth Amendment of the Constitution, as well as Title II of the Americans with Disabilities Act and Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act.

“[The defendants’] long-standing pattern and practice of neglect has directly caused serious ongoing irreparable harm to [the plaintiffs] and similarly situated individuals and contributes to a revolving door of incarceration that is both costly and detrimental to public safety,” the complaint charges. 

The full lawsuit can be read below.